House passes bill to allow the safe surrender of newborn infants

The Florida House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure Thursday that would ensure newborn babies can be safely surrendered to authorities.

Eustis Republican Rep. Nan Cobb presented the bill (HB 791) to establish and regulate the use of newborn safety devices installed in the walls of hospitals, fire stations, and emergency medical services (EMS) stations.

Similar legislation was introduced during the 2023 Legislative Session; however, the bill never made it out of Committee.

Cobb’s bill aims to provide a safe and anonymous way for parents to surrender their newborn baby, defined in the bill as under 30 days old, without the fear of legal repercussions as long as there is no abuse or neglect suspected.

The proposed devices would be temperature-controlled, ventilated, and physically attached to the outside wall of a hospital EMS station or fire station. Alarm systems must also be installed to ensure that staff know when a baby has been placed in the safety device.

During the bill’s passage through the House Health and Human Services Committee, Cobb detailed some of the statistics surrounding the abandonment of newborn infants.

“In 2000, Florida enacted the Safe Haven legislation in response to tragedies concerning newborn abandonment at unsafe locations such as public restrooms, and trash recepticals,” Cobb told the Committee. “Since 2000, approximately 414 newborns have surrendered at a Safe Haven in Florida. In that time, 65 infants are known to have been unsafely abandoned, of which 32 survived and unfortunately 33 did not.”

While the bill was being presented to the House, Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart commended Cobb for bringing it to the floor and said Cobb had addressed previous concerns about the device’s alarms once a baby was placed in it.

“Representative, I want to applaud you for bringing this back,” Hart said. “I know that we had some problems in the past where people thought, well, if you put the baby in a box, nobody will know the baby’s there, but the way that you have structured this bill, immediately someone will be notified. There’s nothing like caring for our babies, and I greatly appreciate you taking this under your wing this year and bringing it back.”

Surveillance systems would also be required to allow employees to monitor the device 24 hours a day, and staff would be required to check the device physically at least twice daily.

The legislation will now move to the Senate floor.